Tomorrow is the day we’ve all been waiting for ever since Marvel announced that their Punisher series published through their Max imprint would be retitled PunisherMax, all one word. Will they really go through with it? Will it look less stupid running along the top of the actual cover of an actual comic book than it does in writing in, say, a shipping list or solicitation or a blog post? We’ll know soon enough.

Me, I can’t think of anything but the above scene every time I hear “PunisherMax.” Anyway, the latest iteration of the series will be by Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon, so it’s probably not going to be anywhere near as bad a comic as its title might indicate.

What else is coming out this week? And will there be spaces between the words that make up their titles? Find out, after the jump!

Amazing Spider-Man #611: Just in case the three ongoing monthlies and sundry appearances in other books isn’t providing you with quite enough Deadpool, he’s also appearing in this week’s issue of ASM. The good news for even the Deadpool-weary is that former Deadpool writer, current ASM writer Joe Kelly is scripting the issue. Eric Canete handles the art, and Skottie Young draws a pretty neat cover.

The Anchor #2: Phil Hester and Brian Churilla’s big, burly mysterious monster-fighter’s second issue involves the title character traveling to Scotland to take-on another monster, this one a sort of stag-shaped centaur wearing a plaid and skull ensemble. A ghost and a U.S. black-ops squad are also involved. I just read a review copy last night, and I can assure you that it’s still awesome, even if it does come with a too-rich-for-my-blood $3.99 price tag.

Batman and Robin #6: The new Batman, the new Robin, the new Red Hood and new character Scarlet vs. the flamboyant, face-eating Flamingo, by Grant Morrison and Philip Tan. Here, have a looksee.

Batman/Doc Savage Special #1: DC is launching a new, pulp-style universe/imprint to home a motley crew of characters under the banner “First Wave,” and it apparently all starts here, in this 55-page, $6 one-shot by Brian Azzarello and Phil Noto. As the title indicates, it will involve Doc Savage meeting up with Batman, only this Batman packs heat, 1939-style.

Beast: This 150-page, $16 original graphic novel by Marian Churchland (Elephantmen, the MySpace Dark Horse Presents story where Conan kills a dude with his loincloth) is about a sculptor commissioned by a mysterious man to create a marble statue of him. Churchland’s a hell of an artist, so this should be well worth a look. In fact, take a look at the massive 25-page preview on Newsarama’s homepage right now.

Booster Gold #26: Well this should boost sales a bit. Black Lantern Blue Beetle—can we just condense that into Black Beetle? Or wait, no, there’s already a character named Black Beetle, huh?—menaces his best friend Booster Gold and his namesake Blue Beetle III. I thought it was interesting that Ted Kord is returning as a Black Lantern in this book instead of Blackest Night, as it seems to indicate that when Blue Beetle was killed in Infinite Crisis, it wasn’t with the intent  of bringing him back to life in this series (I’ve been wondering if a lot of the recent, rampant character-killing was done with the idea that many would come back to life during this event). Anyway, regular creators Dan Jurgens, Matt Sturges, Mike Norton and Norm Rapmund do the reanimating honors. Other Blackest Night tie-ins this week include Green Lantern Corps #42 and REBELS #10, the latter of which seems to be over-sized and carrying a different price tag than usual.

Comic Book Comics #4: Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey’s comic about the history of comics continues, this one features Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Herge and R. Crumb and features one of the greatest covers of all time. Newsarama proper has a preview here.

Hot Potatoe: Publisher Drawn and Quarterly says Marc Bell “is one of the leading lights in the new emphasis on drawing in the art world” and that “He comes on like a stepchild of R. Crumb, Ray Johnson and Basquiat; armed with a dashing and looping rapidograph.” I don’t think I have the art background or aesthetic judgement to be able to second that or argue against it. I do know the book sure looks pretty, and I’m looking forward to spending some time with it this week.  It’s a big (9 x 11.5 big), 275-page hardcover, and it will cost you $30 to own.

Insomnia Cafe: Vertigo original graphic novel Cairo and ongoing series Air proved that M.K. Perker could draw, but can he write and draw? This $15, 80-page black and white hardcover from Dark Horse about a rare book expert and a magical place where he gets access to in-progress books should answer that question. Preview here.

Jormungand Vol. 1: A new manga series from Viz about arms-dealership and mercenary-ing or assassin-ship or some damn thing. Evocative title, anyway. It’s 190-pages for $13.

Luna Park: The latest release from the Vertigo Crime sub-imprint pairs prose novelist Kevin Baker (Dreamland, Strivers Row) with artist Danijel Zezelj. The first two offerings from the line got a ton of mainstream press, so it will be interesting to see how this one does. It’s a $25, 160-page hardcover.

Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #17: With this issue, Marvel’s all-ages book focusing on rotating characters by rotating creative teams essentially becomes the new Marvel Adventures Avengers—albeit with what sounds like a slightly different team roster. Paul Tobin is still scripting, Ig Guara will be handling art and Niko Henrichon is providing the very nice cover.

Pim & Francie: The Golden Bear Days: Al Columbia’s latest is only part comic book, according to publisher Fantagraphics. In fact, they say it’s “part alchemy, part art book, part storybook, part comic book, and part conceptual art.” Take a look at what that looks like here. It’s $30 for 240, 8.25 x 8.25 pages.

Strange#1: The conventional wisdom is that the comics market won’t support a Dr. Strange title. So if Marvel launched a Dr. Strange ongoing in the wake of Civil War, when he was briefly a part of the New Avengers (the team book which has been one of Marvel’s most reliable best-sellers), chances are it wouldn’t still be around. I guess someone at Marvel had the brilliant idea that maybe if they try charging more for a Dr. Strange comic, maybe that will work…? Is that the thinking with a $3.99 Dr. Strange comic like this? (Or is it that they know it’s not going to sell well, so they’ll charge more money from the relatively fewer folks who will buy it, in order to make publication worthwhile…?). This one does have the presence of artist Emma Rios, who did some gorgeous work in a recent-ish issue of Runaways and on Boom’s Hexed, going for it, not to mention Mark Waid handling the scripting duties.

SWORD #1: Kieron Gillen and Steven Sanders launch a new ongoing featuring the “SHIELD, but for space-stuff” organization Joss Whedon and John Cassaday introduced during their short run on Astonishing X-Men. It might have made more sense to launch it back then, or perhaps during or right after Secret Invasion, since the solicitation indicates it will be dealing with SI fall-out (and SI is soooo last crossover), but whatever. The first issue is $4, but future issues seem to be $2.99. Issue #3 features gun-toting Lockheed on the cover, so there’s something to look forward to.

Supergod: The latest Avatar/Warren Ellis book, this one illustrated by Garrie Gastony and featuring a crucified superman on the cover. It’s about superheroes and religion I guess (more here). I feel as if that cover should be more provocative than it is, but when I look at it, all I think of is Ruben Bolling’s God-Man.

Tracker #1: I think werewolf FBI agent is probably still sufficiently high-concept to bear a second look, even in our era of “horror + x” formula high concepts.

Wolverine: Weapon X—The Admantium Men: Word on the street—i.e. the Internet—is that the new, Jason Aaron-written Wolverine ongoing is awesome comics. Is this indeed the case? Should the casual comics reader check out the first collection of the series, which I understand features laser-claws and cancer bullets? Let me know. I can’t imagine paying $25 for this 150-page hardcover—which features the first five issues of the ongoing and two issues of Wolverine—but I’m thinking about the eventual trade paperback.

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